


In a Different Time and Place

by OrangeBlossoms



Category: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magical Girls, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2018-11-23 01:09:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11392197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrangeBlossoms/pseuds/OrangeBlossoms
Summary: It's difficult living an honest student life when magical destiny awaits.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't going to write Magvel stuff until I got better at this (because I like that cast too much), but then this happened anyway. ¬_¬ This started 100% as a joke fic that wasn't going to get posted, but I made it a bit more serious and cleaned it up. If anyone is a mahou shoujo, L'Arachel would be a top candidate (from FE, at least).

It is a warm spring day when it all starts. She skips over puddles left from a rainstorm earlier in the afternoon as the sun bakes the pathways of the park she cuts through every day on her way home from the station. Everything feels close and she takes a moment to remove the tie on her school uniform and undo the top button. Wiping her brow with a handkerchief, she notices how empty it is for that time of day. She shades her eyes and looks upwards as a flock of heavy clouds skim across the sky to block the sun, sucking some of the color out of her surroundings. The world takes on a muted feel as the sounds of the city become muffled and far away as if she's experiencing everything through several layers of cloth. The hush is deafening.

An unnatural fog rolls in, sickly tendrils clinging to her skin with a clammy touch that slows down her movement and disorients her. As she fends off a sudden chill, a sensation hits her that begins like the hum of cicadas and escalates to the roar of an express train as it pummels past the station, unstoppable. She feels simultaneously faint and invincible. A figure appears at her side and if she weren’t feeling so adrift, she might have jolted back. It’s a young girl and it takes her a moment to realize she has startlingly lifelike wings protruding from her back. She speaks to her as if through a dream, sentences confused in the thickness of the mist. Something about fate and kingdoms lost to time. Time. 

_There’s no_ time _!_

A sharp pain breaks her free from the haze that had settled over her mind and she whips her arm back, pinpricks of blood visible. Sound returns and she’s no longer in a murky vacuum. Though the fog remains, its spell over her has broken thanks to the girl who is wiping her mouth with a grimace. She issues a warning about an incoming threat and L’Arachel is at a loss again, but smiles anyway even as her eyebrows knit in concern. The girl’s small hands perform an intricate gesture before producing a stone that she hands to her.

As she touches it, a gold trimmed set of light armor is summoned along with a wooden staff and book that murmurs with a familiar power that beckons her to put it to use. All too soon, the winged girl scampers off, telling her to be careful as faint outlines of shambling figures materialize in the fog. Babbling moans can be heard from where she stands, frozen in place. Her staff responds and the light it emits shines through the vapor to reveal a group of living corpses followed by a many-legged demon, noxious purple froth dripping from its mandibles.

The resulting scuffle is a blur, but she emerges victorious, staff held aloft as she blasts her foes with beams of light from the tome as if on instinct. After the dust settles, the girl reappears and shifts into a dragon small enough to perch on her shoulders as she marches home, filled with a new sense of purpose. 

“So, Myrrh, you are telling me I’m the beautiful princess of light?” she pauses in brief consideration then bounces back, “Well, of course I am! I knew it in my very bones that I was destined for something greater! I couldn't imagine a calling more-more _esteemed_ than to rid the world of terrors!”

The small dragon endures the monologue for a few more moments before cutting her off.

“...You aren't the only one,” she interrupts, tail flicking in annoyance. 

“Wha-?”

“Another is about to awaken into her true power and you will need to assist her,” she says, sea green eyes piercing in their conviction.

She clutches her hands in front of her. “Certainly! A fledgling heroine should be so lucky as to receive a blessing from one such as myself.”

“She goes to your school as well. I suggest you find a time to talk. Two will make your work less dangerous.”

“Oh, but this is not work! It is, as I said, a calling!” she insists, ignoring the warning in her advice.

~*~

The first thing she does with the information Myrrh gives her about the new recruit is to scare her away. It isn’t on purpose. In fact, she believes she has gone about it with a great deal of tact and subtlety when she encounters Eirika in the women’s restroom across the hall from the school library. 

L’Arachel remembers seeing her in passing both in and out of school, usually reading or focusing on some task. Despite sharing a segment of their daily commute, she has never approached her. She learned once she transitioned from homeschooling to the academy that she has a difficult time making friends her age. She is always too earnest in her attentions. That paired with her strange manner of speech makes others uncomfortable. The times she does think about it she tells herself daydreams are more satisfying companions anyway. 

In an attempt at both formality and reining herself in, she greets her partner-to-be with a firm handshake. Eirika’s hands are larger than her own, her fingers longer and more graceful. She cheerfully bumbles through introductions despite all the times she's gone over this encounter in her mind, picturing the best possible outcomes and not bothering to imagine the alternatives. It isn't until Myrrh chides her later that she admits that perhaps accosting someone in the restroom isn't an appropriate way to begin a mutual collaboration.

Myrrh decides to show up partway through, but fails to tell her that Eirika won't be able to see her until she can access her powers. The resulting effect is that it appears as though she is taking advice from some order of invisible shoulder angel. 

Eirika makes some excuse about needing to get to class and before she knows it, she is out the door and lost in the rush of people traveling back from lunch.

She bites her lip as she looks down the hallway in the general direction she believes Eirika to have escaped. 

“Class, she says! But this is so much more _important_!” 

Myrrh lets out a ferocious yawn at her dismay, exposing sharp teeth and forked tongue before curling up in a tighter ball.

She begins to think it might be best to have the discussion outside of school. Eirika avoids any interaction by ducking into classrooms and is almost always walking next to her twin or one of her many friends. She can't very well have a talk about magical destiny in front of strangers and she doubts Eirika will concede to a private chat at this point. 

Instead, she spends her time at school observing. After some investigation, Eirika does appear to be academically inclined. Gifted even. L’Arachel never paid much attention to test scores before, but she notices Eirika’s name near the top of the latest posting, her brother’s not far behind. Where she succeeds in academics, he triumphs in athletics. She has certainly heard his name on the lips of her female classmates, tones dripping with youthful infatuation, more in love with the idea of him than the person himself. 

L’Arachel knows what it's like to fall in love with the idea of things. In contrast to both siblings, she often has what she deems grander pursuits in mind, whether it is last year’s fixation on traveling to far flung lands or the current focus on vigilante justice against all monsterkind. As she sits in the classroom after school, she replays the previous night’s monster encounter in her mind, looking for areas of improvement, the makeup exam on her desk long forgotten.

~*~

The second time she attempts to talk with her about their shared destiny is in the city when she gifts her a pastry meant for Myrrh. They both are hoping to take the subway home, but there has been a disturbance on the tracks. One that L’Arachel had taken part in not half an hour prior. It was her most dangerous mission to date. A horrific gargoyle with red train signals for eyes had somehow clawed its way onto one of the platforms and took its wrath out on the evening commute. 

For the time being, they are both effectively stranded. L’Arachel finds Eirika in a waiting area and takes a seat next to her unbidden. She looks immaculate in her school uniform despite the late hour and sits in stark contrast to the worn out benches, dark blue paint fading in sections. L’Arachel wants to ask if she had club activities that day, but thinks it might be too familiar even if something deep in her chest already feels Eirika to be an old friend. 

L’Arachel hasn't joined any clubs. There are no activities she feels strongly enough about to allow herself to be tied down in any way, at least, not until she met Myrrh and that isn't the kind of thing you start a club for at school (though she has considered it). She has already returned home, changed out of her uniform and gone scouting for evil. After exchanging pleasantries and handing over a chocolate glazed palmier, she gets right to the heart of the matter, praying her voice doesn't tremble with the urgency she feels as she washes away her own concern with a smile meant to charm.

“As it turns out, we’re resurrected princesses, you and I. I’ll prove it to you. Let me just show you this strange birthmark,” she says, hoping this will be proof enough, “You should have one, too!”

Her eagerness for a companion and apprehension over several close calls from earlier overrides what little social sense she has. While she is in the process of removing her sweater, Eirika takes her leave.

“Where did she go?” she asks, now in a camisole top with her sweater bunched up on her arms, hair frizzy from the static, “I was simply hoping to expose my shoulder so she could see for herself.”

“Maybe next time you can avoid stripping,” Myrrh says, causing L’Arachel to go red in the face. “Why didn’t you just pull open your collar?”

“Th-There is no point in ruining a perfectly good sweater by stretching it like that!” she says as she rushes to pull it over her head again.

In the end, she has to take several buses and walk the rest of the way home as she has already spent the money she could have used on a taxi on pastries and a fruit tart she thought her uncle would enjoy. To make matters worse, she boards the first bus in the wrong direction, Myrrh grumbling from her perch upon realizing they are moving further from their destination. She suspects she is still bitter over the pastry and promises to share half of her own when they return home.

In hopes of lightening the mood, she turns to Myrrh and says, “The long way round is a bit of its own adventure!”

Rennac opens the door when she returns and she feels gratified to see a glimmer of concern in his gaze before it dissolves like honey in the tea brown of his eyes.

“I’ve stayed late tonight waiting for you while your uncle works. They don't pay me enough for all the babysitting that's required.”

She breaks her promise, a hiss of surprise coming from her shoulder as she hands over the paper wrapped twin of the palmier she had given to Eirika. He looks at it a moment, skeptical, before waving her into the house.

Later that evening, she opens a can of tuna she finds in the large kitchen and apologizes to Myrrh who decides that fish might be better anyway even if it is from a can.

~*~

The third time she talks to Eirika is on a cool day over a week after the train station incident. A monster is in the process of tossing her into a tree in one of the city's parks and much like the first time a dreary mist has settled in. This time, however, it seems she has developed an immunity to its side effects. The creature decides to pull some ammunition from the gift shop and she just barely jumps out of the way of the rotating display of postcards as it embeds itself in the trunk where her head had been only seconds before. Cards fly everywhere in a burst as she scrambles to avoid the next volley. 

Myrrh is nowhere to be seen and she is beginning to wonder, despite all her optimism, if she is going to join her dearly departed parents in an early grave, rent asunder by the claws of a mauve skeletal demon that has car wheels for feet and wears its pink hair in a pompadour. It is only slightly more ridiculous than the monster with vacuum cleaner attachments for hands that she had defeated the other day at the department store. She takes small consolation in the fact that her anonymous campaign to rid the world of the forces of evil is starting to be taken seriously. They are sending stronger fiends her way and more of them. Her tome has long since been exhausted on the lesser demons that had been summoned in waves before the appearance of her current foe. Her means of counterattack are effectively hobbled.

She is proficient at dodging blows, but without the chance to strike back in between it is only a matter of time before she is caught again. After another energetic toss that sends her skidding across grass and pavement, she pulls herself up with the assistance of her magical staff and meets fate with a determined grin. Preparing to make a glorious final stand, she is shocked when a caped figure jumps in her path, slashing at another projectile meant for her. 

Struck speechless by the dashing profile as her savior glances back at her, she can only nod when asked if she is alright. Upon noticing it is Eirika, she restrains herself from throwing her arms around her in gratitude mid-fight. 

Fresh from the high of her first experience with magical transformation, Eirika makes quick work of the creature with her rapier and L’Arachel expresses her adulation of Eirika (with no small amount of praise for herself) as they walk away from the scene triumphant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to just make this a one shot, but I have a prereader of sorts and she said it was ok for posting, but that it felt like it needed more. I'm a bit worried the idea will overstay its welcome. It's pretty silly to begin with.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter brought to you by the Melee break the targets theme.

After their first shared win, L’Arachel insists they go out for a celebratory round of drinks. She reaches out to link arms before she thinks better of it. Eirika is too tired in the moment to act on the gesture and it's only when it would be too awkward to rectify that she realizes she should have offered some reassurance. She had experienced a burst of clarity and adrenaline during the fight, but the energy has now fizzled into mild confusion and fatigue. 

Eirika is relieved to see that L’Arachel means milkshakes when they arrive at an ice cream parlor several blocks from the park as anything seems possible in that moment. It doesn't escape her attention that L’Arachel is putting in a valiant effort to hide a slight limp as they walk over. Her smiles and wild gesticulations attempt to serve as a distraction from any clinging reminders of her recent brush with death. 

She had been quick to heal the few scrapes Eirika had received during battle, but for some reason the staff didn't actually work on herself. It's something L’Arachel has puzzled over, but she’s happy to assist. She knows she will be good as new after a night of sleep. It's not the first time she's been roughed up in a scuffle.

Eirika’s own thoughts of concern are interrupted as L’Arachel finishes up a lecture on the intricacies of proper stance and when to inform the monsters they are being defeated in the name of all that is righteous and just. Her rebound from the precarious situation she had found herself in earlier is instantaneous and now she is all insistent declarations that seem to have about as much basis in reality as her previous assertions of magic and reincarnation. Eirika doesn't know what to think of it.

“One last thing. A word about technique. I find it most helpful to shout out the names of my special attacks,” L’Arachel says, finger pointed in the air for emphasis. All of this had been hard earned knowledge and far be it from her to keep it from Eirika.

“Does it serve some purpose?” Eirika asks as she stirs the spoon in her shake that she is no longer interested in drinking. 

Earlier was a bit too much excitement for her to make an easy transition to a chocolate shake and being a normal teenager. She has doubts as to whether L’Arachel was ever what you would call typical, moonlighting as some magical monster hunter or not. That said, her bravado cannot be entirely false and whatever quirks she might have, she has been battling monstrosities on her own for over a month. Even after the trouncing she received, L’Arachel has reverted into what Eirika is beginning to understand to be her default state of relentlessly upbeat. 

“Why, of course! It strikes fear in the hearts of those foul beasts!” she explains before taking a sip of her shake, some sort of ice cream and brownie concoction that Eirika is surprised could even be consumed with a straw. To Eirika’s side, Myrrh is licking the caramel that had gotten stuck to her claws from her small sundae. 

“That about concludes the advice I have to offer though I will be sure to share anything else that comes to mind,” she says, smiling in a self-satisfied way before her expression turns into something more earnest.

As their eyes meet, L’Arachel reaches over to place her hands over Eirika’s. “I think we will be the very best of partners and truest of friends!”

The gesture is familiar and warm like morning sun. This time Eirika decides to believe in her words.

~*~

Seth is in the kitchen when she returns home. In the frantic rush to the park after Myrrh manifested in front of her, it slipped her mind to let anyone know that she would be back late. There is always a distance between them and it has only become more palpable after her father passed away. She pushes the thoughts to the corners of her mind as she doesn't feel properly equipped to deal with them in that moment.

“I’m sorry,” she says preemptively, “A classmate needed some help with coursework and I wasn't expecting it. I forgot to say anything.”

The lie comes easily. She can almost pretend they were working on math problems and drinking milkshakes. He nods in understanding.

“I was surprised. Ephraim didn’t know where you were either.”

“She's new to the school. Newer than we are even. A teacher asked me to help her,” she says, the lies forming a story she thinks is plausible enough as she ignores the implications from his own wording, “I’m going to find Ephraim. I’ll reheat dinner later.” Her eyes slide to the foil covered container on the counter. As much as he might fuss over the hassle of moving his homework to the kitchen table, she anticipates Ephraim will join her.

He nods again, placing some utensils from the meal she missed into the sink. She walks away to the sound of the faucet turning on and dishes clinking against silverware.

She is still caught up in her thoughts by the time she is standing outside of Ephraim’s door. Eirika quickly runs through the story she told Seth in her plan to replicate it for her brother. She takes a breath and knocks. A muffled invitation is heard from inside and she turns the handle slowly, using these last moments to ensure she has her composure under control. They do not hide things from each other, so the sensation is more alien to her than wielding the sword had been earlier.

He is sitting in front of his desk studying, only using the desk lamp for light. A bag of ice is plastic wrapped against his shoulder and the corner of her mouth twitches downward. He seems to revel in pushing himself to his physical limits even if he ends up battered for his efforts. She has to wonder if it was the hurdles this time or, more embarrassingly, just horsing around with his teammates. 

“Did you forget? I waited for you outside the gate,” he says.

“I’m sorry, Ephraim. I had to help someone with her coursework after my meeting. That girl, you know, from before. It was all a misunderstanding. A teacher had said I could catch her up on some things she missed.”

“Misunderstanding? The way you described it seems stranger than that,” he says turning around in his chair to look at her.

She hesitates and can tell in that moment he knows there is something else.

“She… she's certainly unique,” Eirika says and wonders if putting all the focus on L’Arachel is enough to distract him even as she gropes for the right words, mind once again tired from the day’s events, “She seems nice though. I would hate for her to make the transition to a new school alone. We had each other, at least.”

He studies her face a moment and chooses not to press. Eirika is not sure if that is a good sign, but she will accept the reprieve nonetheless.

~*~

It is over a week later when Eirika broaches the topic with L’Arachel. There is only so much dancing around she can do with Seth when it comes to an altered schedule and Ephraim is even more aware of any shifts in her daily routine. 

“I’m sorry?” Eirika says, certain she has misunderstood.

They are eating lunch outside on one of the benches. L’Arachel had seen her down the hallway on her way to the cafeteria and had waved her over, arm outstretched as people changed their paths to walk around her. Ephraim had appraised the situation with a watchful eye before suggesting she meet up with her new friend as he walked off with Kyle and Forde. 

“Are you alright?” L’Arachel asks in return, leaning over her own lunch to peer at her, perennial smile not quite reaching her eyes.

“Your family… Did you say they know?” Eirika asks for clarification.

“Of course! Do you think I sneak about, climbing out of my bedroom window in the middle of the night to fight these terrors? Sounds incredibly inconvenient. I cannot be expected to do my best if fettered by the restrictions of an average life. They are in full support of my mission.” She nods to herself as if she is simply relating the natural order of things.

The revelation results in Eirika having more questions than answers. It was true that there had been appearances now in the middle of the night resulting in her waking up bleary eyed the next day.

“How can they be?” she asks, unable to picture Seth or Ephraim encouraging her on this path.

Myrrh elects to appear in that moment. Somehow Eirika is now Myrrh’s chosen companion. L’Arachel was hurt by this shift when it first occurred, but she did her best to brush it off. That Eirika fought by her side was enough, so instead of dwelling on it, she expressed her happiness over how well they got along. Eirika isn't sure there's much truth to that sentiment and she is also uncertain whether she appreciates having someone follow her who comes and goes as she pleases, sometimes asking questions or commenting when Eirika has no way of answering such as in the middle of class or during a club meeting while she is presenting.

“...You two don't believe you are the only ones to return, do you?” she asks from her perch on the back of the bench.

They both turn to look at her before glancing at each other.

“There are many others. Whether they have returned with gifts as you two have is a question. They will be drawn to you through memories they might not yet know or understand. Not all of them will wish to help you. Some have awakened to directly oppose the work you do. Where do you think the terrors come from?”

“I had wondered… I had heard of such beasts, but they were always so far away deep in the mountains or impenetrable forests,” L’Arachel says in a voice that sounds wrong coming from her. It is a shade darker and weaker than normal. 

“Less foolish looking as they haven't forgotten what they are and even more dangerous,” Myrrh says as her eyes reflect the light in a strange way as she looks at L’Arachel.

“Yes…” L’Arachel responds quieter still before rallying, “But that is neither here nor there! What are you trying to suggest?”

“It is just as I said, there are others from back then who have been brought to this time as well. Some hope to reproduce the steps that caused you all to fail before. It’s already begun,” she says, lips curled to expose teeth.

There is silence for a moment and it's the sounds of students walking and talking in groups that bring them all back to the present. L’Arachel is the first to speak.

“We are so blessed that you, too, were reincarnated with us and are here to guide us then,” L’Arachel responds though Eirika feels there are many more questions to be asked. The declaration seems to have riled up the small dragon as her ears flatten.

“I am not resurrected. I was never so weak as to perish in the first place. My sleep kept me here and aware enough to know when the first of you was about to awaken,” she bites out before walking over to Eirika’s shoulder and settling there. The weight is becoming familiar though she doesn't like how it puts her in the middle of what seems to have become an altercation.

L’Arachel looks about to say something when the first bell tolls and they both realize they will be late returning from lunch.

~*~

Myrrh is quiet the rest of the day though Eirika can feel her presence. There are other things going on that neither she nor L’Arachel understand and she hopes to get to the bottom of it all as soon as she has a time to ask. She meets L’Arachel at the gate after classes end for the day. There are no clubs today though sports teams are preparing for upcoming competitions. It is overcast, but she hopes the rain will hold off while they do a lap around what appear to be common targets. 

“What a surprise seeing you here!” L’Arachel says, beaming. 

Eirika pauses a moment. 

“I thought we agree-” 

L’Arachel waves it off though her manner is so sociable that Eirika can't interpret it as dismissive. No sense in minding minor details when there's exciting work to be done.

“I thought we might walk about some of the southern district,” she says, “Over by the traffic circle. I’ve found things there before, you see.”

Myrrh is on Eirika's shoulder, but is preoccupied with scratching an itch on her neck with a back paw. She often chimes in if she has a feeling one way or another. They both take her silence as agreement. L’Arachel wonders if anything could be more perfect. It's still all an adventure, but it's better than before because she has Eirika there with her and that paired with her own flavor of unyielding optimism makes her heart feel fit to burst. For the moment though she is content to walk and talk, sometimes sidling up close and others walking ahead and backwards to look at her friends. Myrrh is a bit of an enigma, but she's certain it will all sort itself out. It's more of a feeling than anything observable, but she's always prided herself on her intuition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I got caught up in rarepair week writing bizarre crack AUs and fluffier modern AUs (and an especially strange crack canon-divergent thing that was mostly me just being cranky about franchise tendencies). I've also got the next chapter of Songs for a Troubadour mostly complete (not sure how much of a crossover audience there is as one's GBA and the other is 3DS). Thanks for reading and I hope you have a lovely day.


	3. Chapter 3

Eirika attempts to question Myrrh about their earlier conversation as they walk, but she avoids the topic by baiting L’Arachel into a discussion on monsters. L’Arachel has a variety of opinions on the issue and a series of categories for them. The undead. The skeleton undead. The gargoyle. The floating eye creature. The horse man that looks far too grotesque to be referred to as a centaur. The skeleton undead with a bow. They might have any manner of bizarre modern additions, but the base figures are often the same.

They encounter a new variety during their patrol when a group of wolflike creatures surrounds them in front of an office building. Eirika realizes that she is only able to fend them off with her rapier. None of her slashes make contact as the creatures are too quick on their feet and dodge with agile hops just out of reach. L’Arachel’s back is to her own and she shouts encouragements in between spells. Her efforts are similarly stymied by the speed at which the monsters move. Attacking with her tomes requires a windup and only serves to keep the wolves at bay as she prepares the next volley. The best they’ve done so far is land glancing blows that do little to slow sharp teeth and claws. 

“We’re going to have to do something different,” Eirika calls, sweat stinging her eyes, “They’re playing with us. Making us tired.” She huffs after the last statement, a testament to her flagging energy.

“The tree,” Myrrh says before L’Arachel can respond, claws digging into Eirika’s shoulder as Eirika lunges, “I will distract them.”

She reappears in her human form at the edge of the block before transforming into the small dragon and breathing bursts of flame in the direction of the wolves. Several turn their heads, slavering jaws snapping as they growl and bark at the new target. As the creatures race towards Myrrh as a pack, Eirika grabs L’Arachel’s hand and runs for the bit of greenery. They scramble up into the safety of the branches, Eirika pulling L’Arachel up next to her. Enraged howls follow the discovery of their temporary escape as Myrrh disappears from their sight.

L’Arachel flips through her tome and leans out over the snarling pack and launches spells at the height of their charge up, avoiding early tells of her aim though Eirika can feel the heat from the spells and wonders if it’s more dangerous that way. The first attempt is a hit and Eirika hears the yelp, her view blocked by her partner. L’Arachel feels Eirika’s hold on her and focuses on attacking their targets while Eirika keeps their balance in the tree. When it’s all over, they sit on the branch for a brief respite and lean against each other. L’Arachel’s laugh is more relieved than triumphant, but they’re both spent. She knows she’ll recover momentarily. She considers leaning her head on a shoulder, but decides it’s best they be on their way. After returning to the ground, she complains over the dishonest nature of their counterattack as Eirika pulls leaves out of her hair in the aftermath.

“I’m certain we could have taken them on in a more…” She twirls a hand as she searches for a word. “ _Upfront_ manner. It seems terribly underhanded to fire spells at them all from a tree.”

“...Just be glad you are both uninjured,” Myrrh says from her perch on Eirika's shoulder as they walk away from the scene, forms flickering briefly as they revert to their civilian attire.

“This is true,” L’Arachel concedes, remembering her earlier lesson on not pushing boundaries with their guide.

After several blocks at a slow pace, shoulders brushing every so often as their tired gait causes them to sway, they reach a point where they part ways.

“I’ll see you both soon!” L’Arachel says with a smile. 

Eirika raises a hand to wave. “Until then.”

Eyes animated again, L'Arachel spins around on a foot and walks away. Eirika looks back after a block and sees her turn and wave before she rounds a corner and is out of sight. 

~*~

Myrrh doesn't know when she became so talkative. It must have been her time with L’Arachel. So many days enduring idle chatter has conditioned her to respond more naturally than she had before. Becoming more human is something she might have wished for once, but now it serves as an upsetting reminder of the speed at which everything changes. Like walking on smooth river stones, it seems the faster she hastens her progress, the more likely she is to slip up. Unlike her charges, there is no one to watch over her anymore. Her once friends and family, mostly gone and forgotten by all but herself, had respected her need for solitude and quiet.

“I don't know. I didn't know you all well, let alone our foes. I don't know what to look for or who was your enemy except the few I saw and they dare not approach so openly. I didn't choose who came with us.”

“I’m sorry,” Eirika says in response to her agitation.

“I can only go based on feeling,” she says, “It's not as though Ephraim confided in me and you are only marked when your powers awaken. It's not a birthmark like she said.”

Eirika self-consciously rubs her side where a small brand had appeared with her first transformation. No one has mentioned it in the changing rooms during gym class, so she can only assume it is much like Myrrh where only a select few are aware of the secret.

“You knew Ephraim? My brother? He was from then as well?” she asks, surprised she hadn't considered it.

“Of course he was,” she says before growing taciturn again in the face of a new onslaught of questioning.

“Will he get powers then, too? Do you know of anyone else? People we already know?”

The queries arise all at once and Eirika begins to understand L’Arachel’s eagerness from the times they first met. L’Arachel is now content with the two of them, but if there is a growing darkness coming, Eirika would like all the support they can get.

“Stop asking me,” Myrrh snaps before fading from view.

It’s the first time she’s done this to Eirika, but based on their interactions, she can only assume this was a common tactic of Myrrh’s to ward against L’Arachel’s unbridled personality. She sighs and walks the rest of the way home alone wishing for L’Arachel’s cheerful small talk. The end of the week cannot come soon enough.

~*~

When L’Arachel wakes up and notices the light shining in through the curtains, she remembers it's the weekend. The days are growing longer, but it is still later than she would normally get out of bed. They had been out in the middle of the night and Eirika had rushed off in the end, apologizing over needing to return home. On a scrap of loose leaf paper pinned to a bulletin board above her desk is Eirika's home phone number. Myrrh is another source of communication and she had been woken by her the night before, startled out of bed in a tangle of blankets as the small dragon appeared on her pillow to prod at her head. Her eyelids feel heavy at the memory of lost sleep, but it's only a moment before the sunlight calls and she's made up her mind to go outside.

By now, she knows Eirika lives with her brother and a guardian in an apartment in a modernized residential district where young families go to settle down. It has a mall, a movie theater and shops that stay open hours later than the patchwork of family-owned businesses L’Arachel is familiar with. It is different in many ways from her neighborhood of Saint Latona with its streets that bar access to vehicles in order to preserve the facades of the older district’s abundance of temples and shrines. Each houses art and wooden sculptures that are centuries old, some only taken out during holy days and religious festivals that have become more an excuse to drink and attract tourists than a way to preserve the old ways. She has always felt a kind of magic present there in the streets that change names every block and intersect at odd angles. With her newfound skills she's even more convinced of the truth of it. She will protect this place.

The twins started at the school half a year before she did, transferring from another district for a reason she can guess at, but Eirika doesn't want to discuss, so she leaves it alone. The change is recent enough, it seems. L’Arachel doesn't ask about the guardian just as Eirika doesn't ask why she lives with her uncle. It's a strange point of kinship that can be uncomfortable, like pressure on a half-healed bruise, but she is happy for any amount of understanding she can give or receive.

She hops out of bed and tosses her hair into a loose bun. Opening a window is enough to convince her to throw on a sundress from her closet. It is still early enough in the day where she is sure she will find Dozla outside. She readies herself to go out and grabs several sweet oranges as she passes through the kitchen.

Walking on the path, she sees him crouched over a bed of soil. The far corner of the yard is still covered in shade, but will be in direct sun soon enough. It's a habit of his to tend to a humble garden in the limited space they have. He says it's relaxing. He sometimes laughs and says that he is now the unofficial landscaper. Dozla is the kind of person to repeat his own jokes and laugh at them each time. He’s so jovial about it that it's never bothered her. L’Arachel is the closest thing he has to a child of his own and she spends more time with him than her own uncle who is often busy with work.

“Dozla!” she says, feeling the last remnants of sleep fall away.

He turns and greets her with a smile nearly as vibrant as her own even as his thick brows and solid build give off an imposing appearance.

“Lady L’Arachel! I was wondering when you would be up and about for the day!” 

She tosses two oranges that he catches with large hands and keeps one for herself. The peels will go in a small compost pile he had to fight with the city to be able to install in a different corner of the yard. It is a battle she remembers fondly.

“We had a late night, Dozla! Evil never sleeps, you know!”

“Ah, of course. If only I had a bit of the magic myself, I’d just as soon as join you,” he says.

“Oh, Dozla, I know you would! It would be truly magnificent! For now, leave the monster hunting to Eirika and myself.”

“Is Miss Myrrh about today? I’ve stopped by one of the shops and picked up some of that cured ham she likes. It's on the counter in the kitchen.”

“Ah, no, she's been staying with Eirika. It's only natural for the newest member to have a guide!” L’Arachel says.

“Very true,” he says with a boisterous laugh. He is always one to keep the conversation pleasant and interpret meanings in the most generous way possible.

“But you should have seen us! Only by the light of the moon and my own magic, we cut through those foul miscreations! I’m certain we'll be on the news one of these days. They’ll get some footage that isn't blurry to show the people they are safe from the ills of those revenants.” She poses for dramatic effect as she continues to relay their adventures.

The few times a photograph had been captured, her heroic figure had been horribly obscured or indistinguishable due to the image quality. The timing was also generally unfortunate with one displaying a failure to dodge an attack that sent her into brick building and another an unflattering grainy shot where the light from her tome managed to completely hide her features. The current coverage seems more akin to what she would expect for monster sightings in the woods than for the kind of valiant fighters they are.

It's all somewhere in between a horrifying reality and a grand game. She would rather play than fret. Now that Eirika is with her, she can focus on working with her to fulfill their mission even if the details are somewhat vague. 

She spends the rest of the day helping around the house and ends the evening with a walk through the neighborhood as if she’s on patrol though mostly it’s part of a weekend routine she began long ago.

~*~

The phone rings and since she is the only one in the kitchen, she gets up and picks up the handle. It's an old rotary phone with a flowery pattern on its base that would be more at home on a tea cup. It's not the first time she wonders how Seth of all people acquired such an item as the rest of the kitchen is more functional than decorative. As she speaks into the receiver, she belatedly remembers that she is always so unsure of how to refer to their combined household. Her hesitation results in a greeting that sounds more confused than kind.

“Hello?” she says, hoping the call isn't for Seth.

“Eirika!” a voice chimes on the line and it takes her a moment to realize it isn't L’Arachel. It takes her another second to place the voice and by then the caller has already ran away with the conversation. “I’m so glad you picked up! I wanted to know if you're free today. Maybe we could go shopping or grab a drink at that bookstore you like by the square. I don't care really. It's just been so long!”

She deserved a day off. It _had_ been some time since she had seen her friend, so she made up her mind.

“Tana, that sounds nice. Let's meet by the pharmacy across from the park at noon and we can go from there.”

It's several hours later when Eirika walks down the sidewalk next to Tana. She is busy detailing the many perceived failings of her brother Innes. It's comforting as it makes Eirika think of better times when they were younger. She can never find it in her heart to be as critical of Ephraim as Tana is of Innes. Tana would surmise that it is because they are twins and Eirika would agree that it probably has something to do with it. As much as she sometimes wishes the two siblings would quarrel less, she is grateful for the routine feeling of the conversation, like putting on a well worn sweater. Even the storefronts have a nostalgic feel to them as they walk. The small market between the watch repair shop and a hair salon still puts a selection of fruit on display outside the store with the same neon paper signs advertising sale prices. There are flowers sold near the same corner as a green newsstand. Things have changed, too, but much has stayed the same in the months since she last saw it.

“Anyway, I want to know what _you’ve_ been up to! Probably busy as usual with student government and acing all of your tests, right?” Tana asks.

“I actually stepped down as a class rep,” Eirika says without thinking.

“No way! It was a big deal since you just got there, right?” Tana asks, voice reaching a high note in her surprise. 

“I’ve been busy,” she says and shrugs, attempting to sound casual, but knowing it comes off evasive as soon as the words leave her mouth.

Tana’s brows knit at the revelation before she links their arms and pulls Eirika along.

“Let’s find somewhere to sit.”

They settle on getting tea at a cafe they went to once using leftover holiday money to buy fancy sandwiches and pretending to be older than they were at the time. Tana is working at a florist and offers to cover the bill.

“Think of it as a gift from a friend,” she says, smiling, “So, what else is new? Innes will just die if Ephraim has a new rival, which means I definitely need to know what your brother’s up to so I can hang it over his head.”

“Oh, sports… classes. He's never had any problems getting people's attentions,” Eirika says though there is no envy in her voice. They are twins, but each have their own strengths and interests.

Tana notices the distracted tone of voice and the half-answered questions. This is the first time they’ve seen each other in months. She wonders why Eirika even bothered making the trip out if her head was going to be somewhere else. She wants to be angry, but worry clouds her feelings. Taking a breath as she watches Eirika’s gaze wander to the side, she thinks over how she wants to proceed.

“Are you ok? You seem… different,” she says, certain that those aren’t quite the right words, but knowing that regretting them isn’t enough to take them back.

She wants to ask if it’s about what happened and is even more certain that any related line of inquiry wouldn’t be appreciated. It hasn’t been in the past. Not that Eirika is ever rude, but Tana has known her long enough to read her moods. This particular display, however, is a mystery.

“I’m fine. Just tired,” Eirika says, knowing she isn’t and that it’s more than that. Chatting with Tana, who doesn’t have to wonder if there are monsters in the alleys they passed on the way, is a reminder of that.

“You know, if you want to talk, I’m happy to listen,” Tana says, propping her chin on a hand and sipping her drink.

“Thanks, Tana. It means a lot,” she says, and attempts to think of anything she’s done lately that could be considered normal. “I made a new friend.”

“Hmm?” 

“Oh, just… something that has happened recently. You wanted to know. I think… I think you would like her.” She tries to come up with a way to describe L’Arachel that would sound equally conventional, but Tana responds before she can continue.

“You should bring her next time!” Tana says and Eirika prevents herself from sighing and sagging in her chair at the acceptance. Tana was always good to her and it really had been too long. She’s able to shake off some of her worries and when she takes a sip of her own drink, the flavors make more of an impact.

“Thank you for calling. I’m sorry if I’m a bit off. It really is good to see you,” she says and Tana also seems to relax.

Conversation flows more naturally after that and Eirika promises herself to make more of an effort with her friends in the future. It would be good to see Lyon again as it’s been just as long, if not longer, time passing by without a chance for her to ever catch up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I keep wanting to do stuff for themed weeks and whatnot. I do have large pieces of future chapters written as well (including some completed). Hoping to complete something different for Magvel week though and that's near the end of the month, so will probably focus on that the next couple of weeks.


End file.
